Equality and Diversity Challenges and Strategies: EE Company Report

This report presents a case study on EE Company, exploring the concepts of equality and diversity within the organization. It examines the meaning of these concepts and their importance in the workplace, highlighting how they relate to employee management and overall organizational policies. The report identifies various challenges associated with implementing equality and diversity practices, such as managing a diverse workforce and ensuring equal opportunities. It also reviews relevant literature and secondary sources to understand different viewpoints and approaches. Furthermore, the report outlines project management plans, including cost, time, scope, communication, and risk management, and includes a Gantt chart for project timeline. The aim is to develop an understanding of equality and diversity and propose strategies to deal with the challenges in EE Company.

Managing a
Successful
Business Project
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Table of Contents
Introduction......................................................................................................................................3
Rationale of Research:.....................................................................................................................4
Project management plan.......................................................................................................4
LITERATURE REVIEW................................................................................................................6
Meaning of concept related with Equality & Diversity..........................................................6
Information from articles and books......................................................................................7
Theory/ model on equality and diversity................................................................................7
Research Methodology....................................................................................................................7
Data Analysis...................................................................................................................................8
Reflection.........................................................................................................................................9
EVALUATION AND LIMITATION OF THE RESEARCH.......................................................10
Recommendations and Suggestions:..............................................................................................11
Conclusion.....................................................................................................................................12
Reference.......................................................................................................................................14
APPENDIX I.................................................................................................................................15
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Title: “To understand the meaning of concept of Equality & diversity, challenges & strategies
related.” A case study on EE Company
Introduction
Equality and Diversity refers to the concept that is used in every organisation because it is
related with the overall policies which are related with management of employees. Equality and
Diversity is different for every organisation according to the management this concept has
different few points and they are implementing it according to their willingness. It is a British
mobile network operator and is also dealing in internet service provider services that are a brand
of BT group. In May, 2020 it has been recognised as the largest mobile network across UK with
a base of 29.2 million customers and they also poses a joint venture between France Telecom
and Deutsche Telekom. Present report is on EE limited that is a British mobile network operator
and is also a internet service provider that is brand of the BT group (Özbilgin and Slutskaya,
2017). It can be said that according to main to 2020 this largest mobile network operator in UK
as they are dealing with 29.2 million customers. This was started in the year 2020 as a joint
venture its headquarters are present in Hatfield United Kingdom. The report discusses about the
basic concept of equality and diversity in this organisation and what can be various challenges
that are faced by Management by implementing such policies in their overall working practices.
Challenges are part of every organisation and especially in case of equality and Diversity
concept such challenges have to be managed very properly as they are related with their work
force who is responsible for ultimately achievement of laid down organisation’s objective. So,
there is requirement of some strategies that can be used for the purpose of managing all the
challenges that are taking place in EE limited (Salinas, Romaní and Silva, 2018). There is use of
literature and all the secondary available sources it was not possible for the present report to
consider primary data because of the prevailing situation of covid-19 in the external
environment. So it was difficult for the purpose of collecting primary data through there is use of
existing data to understand what are different associated viewpoints of writers with the concept
of equality and diversity and how can we challenges be dealt in such organisations.
AIM:
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"To develop understanding of equality and diversity in any company and different strategies to
deal with challenges taking Place because of equality and diversity” case study on EE Company.
Objectives:
1) To understand basic meaning of Equality & Diversity in organisation.
2) To review different challenges associated with practices of Equality & Diversity in
organisations.
3) To make some strategies and use models related with equality and Diversity practices of
organisation.
Questions:
1) What do you understand by Equality and Diversity?
2) What are some of the challenges related to challenges in organisations?
3) Develop some strategies to deal with challenges related to Equality and Diversity?
Rationale of Research:
The present research work is on the investigation that is being done in relation with the
concept of equality and diversity and how can there be reduction & management of these issues
that are associated with such practices can be strategically dealt with (Thomas, 2019). There is
network provider organisation that is EE Limited that is selected to understand the relation of
management practices with the equality and Diversity concept to be applied as a strategic tool so
that there can be management of employees in this manner that it can lead to higher profitability.
Project management plan
It is defined as a word document which will act as a map for the investigator as well as other
people who are in walled with the research. This also helps in gaining knowledge and
information about various topics and how to perform the research. This plan in walls a number of
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strategies which will support the overall project activities. When considering the following
research, the research plan developed by the researcher who is executing the following research
is mentioned below:
Cost: Cost refers to the amount of money required by researcher to continue and complete the
research. In the following to search there was no cost involved. All the data was collected
through secondary resources. There will be minimal cost required for the following research
(Taylor, 2018).
Time: In the following section the researcher will divide the time required for each and every
activity to carry out different steps in the report. It is necessary that the time which is decided by
the researcher is followed throughout the completion of report
Scope: This is an important element which describes about the importance of scope of the
research in the real business sector with the help of the investigation. In the following research
the scope will help EE company along with various similar companies in the industry. It will also
provide various opportunities to the company and give it new opportunities to grow in market.
Communication: It is necessary that while conducting a report all the people who are associated
with the research communicate well with each other. The researcher in the following research is
using various emails and different kind of communication to communicate with the management
of EE company. It is necessary for the overall report as effective communication will help in
development of effective conclusions for the report.
Risk: Risk is an important factor in a research. It might include use of technology which can
hamper the research, misleading information or miss use of any information. It is necessary that
research and make sure all the resources are reliable and there is no negative impact of
investigation in the market.
Resources: In the following report the research done on EE company will require different
resources. These resources involved a small amount of money, people involved in it, and
technologies for communication. All this coming together will help the researcher in conducting
the research in an effective manner and drawing out important conclusions from the research.
With the help of the above plan it can be deter mind what are the steps which need to be
followed in order to execute the following research in an effective and correct manner (Ashurst,
2019).
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Gantt chart: It is used by the researcher for the purpose understanding different time horizon
assigned to various aspects for research project so that project can be completed on specified
time deadline. The time has been set from 10th may to 10th July 2020.
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LITERATURE REVIEW
Meaning of concept related with Equality & Diversity
According to Def. of Diversity, 2020 equality refers to the practices that are part of organisation
that is used for three major purpose first is breaking of barriers eliminating the discrimination
that is part of organisations overall working and the third one is having equal access of
opportunities for employees working at All the departments and all different levels in a equal
manner. Quality is always related with creation of a society that is having their opportunities for
every individual and they possess all the liberty of participation according to their qualification.
Equality is also legislation practices as government is designing practices that are embedded in
the management of for all organisation so that there can be stoppage to any type of
discriminatory practices that is taking place in any organisation and if these practices still
continue than they have to be stopped by strict action that has to taken by the government for by
complaint that is being done by any working in these organisations. So, there are certain acts like
the equality at anti discriminatory act that has been passed by the government in UK so that there
can be proper regulatory framework that have to be adhered by all organisations. Equality is also
a legislative framework and certain legislations are discrimination act 1995, Race relations Act
1976 and Sex discrimination Act 1975. These acts are revolving around the objective of
maintaining of equality in the working of organizations.
Diversity is also another concept that is related with creation of a culture that is providing respect
to different background and differences of values that individual belongs. There is workforce that
is part of Limited because they are having presence and offices in Different cities like London
Doxford, greenock. So, its employees’ large number of employees who belong to different
background and culture. It is very difficult to manage such a large workforce as all are working
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towards ultimate one objective. So, there is payment of certain diversity practices to understand
how large workforce can be manages in the organisation (Definition for equality and diversity,
2020). There is requirement of certain diversity practices that can enhance the overall level of
employee satisfaction and equal importance must be given to each culture and background.
Along with this there is always a direct relationship with the contribution made by employees
and higher revenue (Managing diversity and equality in the workplace, 2016). With instance to
EE Company it can be said that this practice is very essential for the purpose of maintaining a
qualified and satisfied workforce.
Information from articles and books
According to Definition for equality and diversity, 2020, there are a number of different type of
challenges which are associated by every organisation while they implement equality and
adversity practises in the business. It is necessary that every employee belongs to the
organisation understand the background, different social cultures of each other. It is necessary
that the result of managing equality within the workforce should include all the diverse
background from which the employees in an organisation are coming. Specially in large
organisations like EE company the workforce are from different ethics and values also believes.
It is necessary for organisation to understand all of it. Managers in an organisation are required
to formulate various policies and procedures so that every employee in the organisation can be
provided with equal opportunities in decision-making and also various important functions of a
business. This may include the employees from lower level as well as middle level. It is often
seen that the lower level employees are not given much importance in an organisation. So,
empowering the lower level employees may bring positivity in working environment of an
organisation. It might have great positive effect on organisation and also build the motivation
and encouragement level of operational level employs. It is not necessary that all the decision-
making process should be given to the employees but at least the opinion and ideas which I
brought in by employer should be given importance. If it is not done there might be negative
impact on the attitude of workers in an organisation which might also give rise to a number of
conflicts and grievances. This will lead to a number of challenges for the managers of an
organisation who are willing to ensure the quality and diverse city practises in an organisation.
According to Managing diversity and equality in the workplace, 2016, there are a number of
challenges because the diversity in an organisation may range to various different areas
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geographically. This makes it difficult for the manager to understand all the employs in an
efficient manner. It is required by manager to particularly give personal attention to all the
employees so that different values and beliefs which are followed by these employs can be well
understood by managers. It is necessary that no employer may feel left out or neglected while
implementing diversity practices in an organisation. It is also seen that when there is conflict in
employs this may lead to various negative outcomes such as negative environment in the
organisation, absenteeism in employs, the motivation of employs, lowering the retention rate and
increase of employee turnover rate in an organisation. All this leads to various cost for an
organisation as they need to spend a lot in recruitment and selection of employs also losing a
skilled employee is a loss for the company because a lot of amount and time as well as efforts is
invested by companies in training those employees. It is also the duty of human resource
manager to effectively inform the managers at all the different operations about the different
background and culture of the employees working for them. In this way they must actively work
on equality and diversity in the organisation and also decrease the negative impact brought due
to it.
Theory/ model on equality and diversity
According to The Definition of Diversity,2020, there are a number of strategies which an
organisation can effectively use to face all the challenges while implementing diversity and
equality practises in the organisation. There are also different models and theories developed to
apply this in the organisation. One of the strategies can be providing equal opportunities to all
the employees in an organisation without discriminating in their sex, origin, culture, believes,
value and colour. It is a very necessary practice which every organisation must practise in order
to make sure that there is no negative impact on the mindset of an employee. Providing equal
opportunities will bring in positive development and positive response from the employs towards
the organisation which will help in increasing the overall productivity of employs and
organisations all together. Another concept used by a number of managers in order to make sure
that the quality is maintained in the organisation is giving every employee equal chance for
decision making. It is necessary that roles and responsibilities are delegated to the employs. No
Manager can carry on all the work on his own. It is necessary to use the human resource present
in the organisation which are employees. Once the roles and responsibilities are delegated to
those employees, they will feel more responsible and also a sense of belongingness in them can
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be generated towards the organisation. They will feel more valued and important for the
organisation. In this way the motivation level as well as moral of the employs can be built. They
will build self-confidence as well as confidence to words the company. Also, there are a number
of training and development session which could be provided to employs to particularly develop
their skills in the organisation (BERBEGAL and et al., 2017). Doing this will also help the
organisation in developing their employs career along with the image of the organisation in the
minds of customers and employees as a whole. These strategies will affect delivery help the
organisation dealing with various challenges which they might face while implementing equality
and diversity in the organisation. In this way the brand image of company can also be developed
in the market. When a company have a good brand image and goodwill in the market it will
automatically have more revenue and profits. This is a great way for a company to maintain
sustainable development in the market. Employs are the major resources for any company. It is
necessary that organisations take time to develop their employees along with their own
development. It is necessary to motivate the employees to use their full potential towards the
objectives of the organisation. With the help of various theories and concepts managers in an
organisation can effectively align the goals and object tips of employs with that of the goals and
object tips of the organisation. Doing so will help the managers to implement diversity and
equality in the organisation. It will help in minimising the turnover rate and absenteeism rate of
employs. Employs will work to their optimum capacity and also increase productivity for the
organisation.
There are a number of different key diversity theories which are mentioned below:
There is a cognitive theory of diversity which suggest that there are a number of different
perspective in people who have cultural differences in a group of an organisation due to which
problems are created an organisation.
The justification of suppression model also explains that there are different conditions in which
different individuals act with different prejudices.
There is also a theory of attraction parody gum which explains that the preference of individual
while interacting with the ones who are like themselves also results in diversity and negative
effect of diversity can be seen in an organisation due to this (Stefanovic and et. al., 2018).
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Research Methodology
Research methodology refers to the ways in which problems are solved in an effective
manner. With the help of a research there are various ideas, procedures and techniques which are
held in forming an investigation (Beaman, 2017). Research philosophy, design and data
collection are a part of research methodology. The techniques used in the following research
investigation and mentioned below:
Research design: Research design is the most important element in research methodology.
Various designs are explore a tree, experimental and descriptive. The following research is a
descriptive research as it is involving qualitative investigation. It is also necessary that
investigator brings out positive research results from the following research.
Research philosophy: Research philosophy are of two types which are usually used by
researchers. These are positivism and interpretivism. The following research use interpretivism
philosophy in order to conduct the research. The following philosophy focus on various aspects
of research outcomes and time implementation of activities in research.
Type of investigation: various investigation types use in a research or qualitative and
quantitative. Quantitative research is the one which is done with the help of data and statistics
while qualitative is based on observation. Quantitative data is taken into consideration for the
following report. There are a number of figures through which conclusion sir describe for this
report.
Research approach: There are mainly two types of research approaches which are deductive and
inductive (Clarke, 2018). Deductive research approach is used in following research with the
help of figures, statistical data regarding the topic in the company.
Data collection: Data collection is a told used in research in order to collect effective and
important data. There are basically two types for collecting data which are primary and
secondary. Primary is the first hand data which is collected from market and customers itself.
Due to the COVID-19 pandemic no primary data have been collected in the following research.
Secondary data is the data which is collected from the already available resources such as
newspapers, articles, journals and books. The whole research is done with the help of secondary
data as it was the easiest way to collect the data in the present situation. This is also a cost-
effective method to collect data.
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Data Analysis
From the above discuss literature review it can be said that there are many personal issues
related with the practices of equality and diversity in organisation. It can be said that there are
certain key challenges that are faced by search organisations overall agenda of equality and
diversity (Dennison, 2018). One of the major challenges is related with employment of right individuals with the
required skills experiences and a cultural fit. This is a challenge especially in certain
Industries that belong to the service factor. It is very important to build up a corporate
culture that is facilitating the higher productivity of diverse workforce and is leading to
retention of employees with a higher workforce.
Flexible working practice is a very important solution that can be used for the purpose of
managing employee. Another approach can be used of democratic or a participative style of
leadership that is used for the purpose of enhancing the overall participation of employees. It is
very important to motivate employees to develop their creative sector chance must take benefit
of the differences in age personality education background culture values of every individual as
these actually add on to the overall personality of a particular employee that helps them in
performing their job responsibilities in a more different manner. When together these different
efforts of employees come together then it leads to achievement of organisation in form of more
competitive advantages as compared to their other major competitors in the external
environment.
 Managing high amount of Diversity in organisation is also a challenge. It is enhancing
with the time period as there is situation that is taking place of higher competition and
this is leading to more branches & location that have to be approached for the purpose of
covering a broader market share. It leads to hiring of people from different countries and
different background which is sometimes difficult to manage because of the differences
in culture mind set language living style and all other such type of differences that occur
because every nation has their own different set of values.
So, another situation is increasing the adaptability focus or employees from different
backgrounds must be providing higher solutions when they are approaching a particular problem
solving scenario (Nebe and Mangold, 2018). From the viewpoint of a full-service creative
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